Friends of the Earth has released a statement regarding the thermal power plant set to be established in Thoothukudi.
In that statement, "In Thoothukudi, 14 thermal power plant units with a capacity of 4,793.27 megawatts, operated by companies including Moxie, NTPL, SEPC, TNPGCL, and DCW, are already functioning. In this situation, the Tamil Nadu government and private companies including Adani are planning to set up new thermal power plants with a capacity of 9,320 megawatts in Thoothukudi.
If all of these are completed and become operational, thermal power plants with a generation capacity of 13,063.27 megawatts will be operating in Thoothukudi alone. This raises the risk that Thoothukudi will become the thermal power plant capital of India.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay, on August 31, made several announcements related to the Energy Department in the Assembly under Rule 110. Among them, he announced that the five old thermal power plant units in Thoothukudi, which are already in operation and have a generation capacity of 210 MW, will be gradually replaced, and a new 1600 (2*800) MW ultra-supercritical thermal power station (New Supercritical Thermal Power Station) will be established at a cost of Rs. 20,800 crore under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Similarly, as per the decisions taken in the Electricity Board meeting held on 12.10.2026, it has been decided to install 2*800 MW units in both stages, replacing the 2*660 MW capacity units that had already been planned for Stage 2 and 3 at Udangudi. In total, permission has been granted to install 3200 MW at Thoothukudi Udangudi.
In Ottapidaram in Thoothukudi district, Moxie Power Generation Limited, one of the companies of the Adani Group, is already operating thermal power plant units with a generation capacity of 1200 (2*600) MW. In this situation, Adani has applied to the Union government’s Ministry of Environment on November 2 seeking environmental clearance to set up a new thermal power plant with a generation capacity of 3200 MW (4*800).
The total estimated cost of this project, which is planned to be set up on land owned by the Adani company in areas including Melmarudur, Tharuvakulam, Duraisamipuram, and Pattinamarudur villages under Ottapidaram taluk, is Rs. 36,000 crore.
Based on this, 12 thermal power plant units with a capacity of 9,320 MW are to be newly set up in Thoothukudi. Even though thermal power plants with a capacity of 4,793.27 MW are already operating in Thoothukudi alone, the Tamil Nadu government and private companies are making efforts to establish new thermal power plant units with a capacity of 9,320 MW.
It will take at least more than 5 years for all the proposed projects to become operational. If they all come into operation as planned, thermal power plants with a capacity of 13,063.27 MW will be operating simultaneously in Thoothukudi.
These thermal power plants will turn Thoothukudi, a densely populated area, into an uninhabitable place. In India, only Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh and Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh have thermal power plants of this scale installed and planned.
Under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), funds have been allocated to four cities in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and Thoothukudi), and air quality is being closely monitored while measures are being taken to reduce air pollution. Among these, the cities of Chennai, Madurai, and Tiruchirappalli have been included in the National Clean Air Programme because they are cities with populations of over 10 lakh.

Thoothukudi has been included in this project solely because its air quality is poor. Thoothukudi is one of the few cities in Tamil Nadu where air quality is bad. The main reason for Thoothukudi’s air pollution is the thermal power plants there, which burn tens of thousands of tons of coal every day.
On average, a 500MW thermal power plant releases about 105 tons of sulfur dioxide, 24 tons of nitrogen oxides, 2.5 tons of fine particles, and around 3,500 tons of ash into the air every day. If this much toxic smoke is released from a 500MW thermal power plant, it means that the thermal power plants currently operating in Thoothukudi release 10 times more toxins than this.
If all the proposed projects come into operation, the impacts in Thoothukudi will be 2–3 times greater than the damage currently caused by thermal power plants. Not only air pollution, but also land pollution, waterbody pollution, and groundwater pollution will create a range of irreversible problems.
Over the past 10 years, the production cost of one unit of solar power has fallen by 85%, and the production cost of one unit of wind power has fallen by 55%. At the same time, the cost of generating electricity from thermal power plants has been steadily increasing.
After spending 50,000 crore to build new thermal power plants, if there is no need for them, how huge a loss would that be for the government? It would also create an additional debt burden for the government. For the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, which is already in debt of over 1,80,000 crore, the Thoothukudi and Udangudi thermal power plants will add another 50,000 crore in debt over the next six years.
It costs up to 8 rupees to produce one unit of electricity from the thermal power stations in Thoothukudi. However, due to recent changes in the renewable energy sector, it currently costs less than 3 rupees to produce one unit of electricity from solar power. A study by the Climate Risk Horizon organization says there is a possibility that this price will fall further in the coming years.

Scientists have proven that the use of fossil fuels is the primary cause among human activities that intensify climate change. It was on that basis that the Paris Agreement was created, and countries around the world have been making efforts to phase out the use of coal.
The new announcements by the T.V.K. government and the plans of private companies run counter to many of the efforts the Tamil Nadu government has undertaken over the past 5 years to control climate change.
Instead of generating electricity using renewable energy, which can also benefit the economy, setting up coal-fired thermal power plants again is an act that will destroy people’s health and natural resources. Under the name of development, Thoothukudi is turning into the grim face of a massive social injustice.
Since the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government has a duty to put an end to this tragedy, we urge the Tamil Nadu government to abandon new thermal power plant projects, and we call on all political parties, social organizations, and environmental groups in Tamil Nadu to press the government to drop these projects,” it has been emphasized.
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